Looking for good employment news

January 7, 2014

With little to brag about during recent weeks, because of ongoing evidence of how bad the national health care law is for Americans, President Barack Obama's administration seized upon one bright spot last week. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply, the Labor Department announced.

Applications for benefits during the week of Christmas fell to a seasonally adjusted level of 338,000 in comparison to the previous year, the agency reported. Analysts pointed out the one-week number probably was misleading. A four-week report showed unemployment benefit claims rising, they explained.

But even in the context of the Labor Department report - configured to put the best face possible on unemployment figures - there was bad news.

Much of it affected this area of the country. In Ohio, the week's claims for unemployment benefits were higher - by 1,529 people - than last year at this time. The Labor Department said that was because of layoffs in manufacturing companies.

In West Virginia, the numbers were nearly the same as last year - and the Labor Department noted this state has one of the highest "insured unemployment rates," at 3.1 percent, in the nation.

Obama frequently pats himself on the back for his alleged success in battling the "Great Recession." But the country is pulling out of it very, very slowly - and government programs have played little part in even that small success.

The president has made it clear he has little compassion for the manufacturing sector that made the nation great. But the recovery will gain momentum only if the government stops placing regulatory and tax obstacles in the way of Americans who make things.

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President Barack Obama has made it clear over and over again, frequently in wholesale changes and complete reversals of health care law provisions, that he considers the law of the land something he can ignore at will.

During his Christmas vacation in Hawaii, the president did it again, this time regarding terrorists detained at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military base.

Part of a big defense bill Obama signed into law last Thursday stipulates none of the detainees can be transferred to the U.S. mainland. Though he signed the measure, the president emphasized he intends to ignore that prohibition.

He has said that several times, presumably to placate liberals who believe the Guantanamo Bay detention center should be closed.

But the overwhelming majority of Americans don't want the government to ship terrorists here. Though some have concerns about Guantanamo Bay, most recognize there is no viable alternative.

Obama is unlikely to have any of the terrorists transferred to the U.S. mainland, but only because he understands he would suffer terribly from public opinion opposed to such action.

Still, his continuing insistence that, in effect, he can ignore laws passed by the people's representatives is troubling. Unfortunately, it has become a pattern in this, the most imperial presidency in memory.